What was the point of announcing Cyberpunk 2077?

Just to refresh your memory because it's been 4 YEARS since this game was announced.... Jan of 2013 to be exact. This is the trailer to cyberpunk 2077 developed by CD projekt red.

https://youtu.be/P99qJGrPNLs

Now, I love a good hype story, especially when the pedigree of the developer is high, but what the eff was the point of releasing this trailer when they did? They had originally said in an article that I'm not linking, to look for it around 2017 though officially, as the trailer says it'll release when it's done.

Are they trying to appease investors? Are they trying to convince gamers they're working on something? I need to know, because I don't think if I were in the position of showing off my new ip, I'd want to show a cgi trailer and then offer nothing for 4, going on 5 FULL YEARS....

I have a general negative look at marketing for modern games. They show next to nothing other than cut scenes, like the new sucker punch game just did, but to tease something that's a half decade away from being real, is just so lame. Soooo lame.

It serves no one.

Is Sony the pub. cuz that would explain it? Lol I kid. :P

Yeah, it's a joke

Do what I do. I toot the horn at the announcement of the game. Then, I forget about it until it's released. I'm not the type to watch paint dry, meaning I don't sit around waiting for a game. It'll release when it's ready for release.

I'm just not into hype.

On the flip side, Star Citizen shows basically everything and still gets shit on.

I'd hate to be a game dev.

@jun_aka_pekto: I mean, that feels like the natural order of things to be honest. There have been like spans of a year where I haven't thought of cyberpunk even in passing.

Loved the "look" of the game and all, but don't have a shred of hype for something that just isn't anything more than digital blue balls.

I like how Bethesda does things more

Announcement at E3 in June

Game releases in September/October of the same year

@R4gn4r0k: but they announced Doom 2 years ago with teaser and year after with trailer and release game year after.

Of course. Gamers suck. One of the single most toxic markets I've ever seen. You can't do anything right as a game developer.

cool ass trailers

Pretty sure he's referring to their recent handling of wolfenstein and evil within 2, as well as fallout 4 before that

They saw how successful Sony is playing with the 2+ year hype cycle.

I dont know why people are here whining. You'll be buying the game anyway regardless.

@R4gn4r0k: bingo... Fallout 4 reveal is still the best I've seen in the modern hobby.

I tend not to get excited until the game is actually being reviewed. That said, I'm not a big fan of gag orders. I don't like game publishers or developers dictating when a review of their game can be released.

Hahaha, you are absolutely right.

Although, I'm excited for both games. Cyberpunk moreso than Star Citizen, just because I'm an RPG type of guy.

I never saw that trailer, you know the 'DOOM on earth, COD style' trailer ?

Maybe I was blinded by my hype for RAGE and my hope that RAGE would get a sequel ?

I'll get it day one whenever it releases.

I'm not gonna rush CDPR, let them take all the time they need. You can't rush a masterpiece and knowing CDPR, Cyberpunk 2077 will be a masterpiece.

Cyberpunk was actually announced in 2012, the teaser trailer in 2013. CDPR said they announced it so early because they wanted to see what the response of the gaming community would be

Probably so that all of their friends can buy a ton of shares in CDPR right before they show some actual in game footage.

Same here. There's no issue for me considering the quintillion quality games that are coming out in the meanwhile, and that's on top of all the buried gems I'd never gotten around to.

You know Cyberpunk's gonna be quality. Let them do their thing and release it whenever.

You have to remember the majority of gamers out there do not share your point of view, in the sense of you coming here and analyzing something like this and posting on the system wars forum. So a perspective from a more casual point of view might help: The developer of the highly successful Witcher is working on a new game with the following basic premise, etc.

To me. That is how most people will likely perceive this. This developer seems to keep a low profile during development, I remember seeing them tweet recently something along the lines of(dont remember the exact wording): "The price of a great game is silence " So it sounds like they wanted to tease us and then "we are hard at work until the game is finished, please be patient!". Personally, I dont have an issue with it, Its a little like Rockstar's style.

Yeah they definitely announced it a few years too early... but they're not the only ones that do this.

Yeah, would be nice if games were only announced a year out from launch at the most. And beyond that, don't even bother unless you have gameplay to show. I get where you're coming from, it can be annoying and even a bit ridiculous at times with stuff like TLG and FFXV for example.

But honestly, it just doesn't bother me anymore. I'm always swimming in way too many games to play. The big games will come when they come and every few days it seems someones showing me a new interesting game that I haven't heard of before.

Pretty much that. I only get excited in the days leading up to release if anything.

Waiting and hyping, hanging on every shred of news, it gets tiresome and can even lead to a bit of disappointment. I only got on the hype machine once this gen, with MGSV. Probably could've avoided that, but playing Ground Zeroes just made the need to play Phantom Pain unbearable lol.

With everything else though, just leave it out of mind until it's about to launch. If it doesn't turn out great, then hey you weren't too invested. If it does turn out great, then it's a nice surprise.

To be fair it was teaser, not a trailer. Just a way to inform us that they're working on something.

They were a much smaller company back then who barely saved themselves from bankruptcy, they needed to attract the attention of both gamers and potential employees. After the witcher 3 they are in a much better position.

Trailer is better than showing nothing :D

I don't really think this is a modern issue. I remember following the development of The Witcher 1 years before it was released.

Has it already been 4 years? Damn time really flies.

Anyway, maybe they just wanted to inform us of their plans after The Witcher 3. I see nothing wrong with that.

Maybe to preempt TW fans from begging for TW4 so they can work on Cyberpunk 2077 in peace, and take as long as it needs to? And thank gawd too, after all, the series has quite a following, it'd be rather annoying if these forums were full of whiners asking for the next The Witcher game.

Anyhow, newer IPs seem to take longer to develop. We live in an age where people what ambitious games with big production values. To start a new game like this, coming from The Witcher 3, means developing entirely new assets, and new gameplay designs. And this game is supposed to have online elements, so that's going to be a new challenge for the developers. One a new series is started, sequels seem to come quicker since they can work off of and add to the older assets, I imagine anyways.

@TheEroica: it was announced in may 2012. The first trailer was released Jan 2013.

This game is one of my most anticipated games since i first heard about it many years ago.

By letting people know what is coming, even if its far from release, creates hype and small communities all over internet talking about games rumors, what people want to see, about any leaked or "leaked" information etc. That is called free marketing = buzz and its one of the most effective ways to soft market a video game nowdays.

Perhaps, gaming sites should eliminate hype/previews and concentrate more on reviews unless of course, game publishers are paying them to keep the hype going.

There are so many games that never get the reviews they deserve.

@TheEroica: Agreed. But the flip side is what MS is doing. They wont show early at all anymore and knuckleheads swear they have nothing in the works despite them saying they do but they aren't ready to announce them.

Cyberpunk 2077 was announced way too early imo.

I remember CDPR saying a while back that they released the teaser to gauge interest. I don’t even think the game was in pre-production at that point.

I think publishers need to stop announcing games before there is an actual piece of code of game made. I think an anouncement a year before the game gets released should be enough time to build momentum. Why do we need to know about projects that are 3 - 4 yrs out?

Well it wouldn't be Microsoft as they would of cancelled it and shut the studio down ages ago :P

Weak after week after weak after week. C'mon, pick up your game mah man.

Now then, "Scam" lolol :P

@TheEroica: IIRC, it was to attract developers into signing up with the game. There is a one-frame letter by CDPR within the video that's basically that.

But yes, I agree it was announced too early.

I have trouble understanding why anyone would prefer to be uninformed about what games a developer is working on. It actually makes people miserable to have that information? Odd. I assume when I hear news of this sort that the game could be as much as ten years away. It's not like they are telling you to look for it soon.

I prefer to see the effort wasted on hyping vapor (aka games that are years away) to be spent on reviewing games that are out right now.

I prefer to be informed about games that I'll be playing soon. Hype is for those who spend their time in forums instead of actually gaming.

The same reason Sony likes to announce their exclusives for ps5 while in the ps4 gen.

I agree. Hyping games with nothing more than CGI trailers is ridiculous. GoT looks interesting thematicaly and Sucker Punch being its developer gives me hope, but I cant say I'm hyped without seeing any gameplay for it.

But yeah, devs show their games waaay too early and that can backfire at them cause hype dies off like what happened with TLG

It's kinda like what was the point for announcing Crack Down 3??

Sure everyone are guilty to show off games way way way too early but Sony are known to do it more often than others. But luckily since Sony already admit that they do show off games way way way too early, they want you to believe they won't do it as much from now on.

Who knows? Sometimes I do think, like you said, investors. Or sometimes the dev has money offered, and then pulled away, so they have to wait.

It was most likely announced back then to gauge the interest from the community. Once they saw a lot of interest, they decided it was worthwhile to go into full production. You have to remember that the studio has only worked on The Witcher series in the past. Bringing out a new IP that is going to be larger in scale than The Witcher 3 poses a significant financial risk.

I think it possibly can please investors to show them work in progress to keep the money flowing.

same reason square enix announced the remake of 7 before they even started working on it

to please their shareholders

the year still ain't over

Didn't they say when they announced it that they had not started making the game yet.

I don;t see any problem with them showing off a concept for game, see if anyone is interested.